Venue details
Address (not for correspondence):
Top Floor, 18 New Road Avenue,
Chatham, Kent, ME4 6BA
Opening hours
Days & Times: Wed - Fri 9.30am to 6pm. Sat & Sun 9am to 4.30pm
Centre charges
Details available on request
Services available here
Supported contact
Supervised contact
Handover
Supervised contact assessment
Indirect
Escorted contact
Life story identity contact
Accepts self referrals
Enhanced Accredited
Virtual Contact (Supported)
Virtual Contact (Supervised)
To make a referral,
contact:
Address: Top Floor, 18 New Road Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME4 6BA
Telephone: 01634 829558
Email: reception@foundationskent.uk
Contact
Website: www.contactcentrekent.org.uk
Telephone: 01634 829558
Email: reception@foundationskent.uk
This centre is accredited to provide supervised contact
Accreditation is a way of checking that your contact centre is safe and meets our standards.
How is a centre checked?
An assessorSomeone working on our behalf who has experience and an interest in child contact services and must assess if a service meets our standards. looks round the centre’s rooms, toys, equipment, and any outside play areas to make sure that they are safe and good for you to use. They talk with the people at the centre to make sure that they are trained and helped to do their job as well as possible. They then check the informationThe assessor checks through the centre’s accreditation portfolio which includes policies, procedures, risk assessments, reports (if the service offers supervised contact) and information for families. on what happens at the centre and how it keeps you safe. If your family time happens in the community The service might use local community venues to deliver their service or in some cases, residential properties including family members’ homes, where this is safe and appropriate., then the assessor will check that this is going to be safe for you.
When the assessor is happy that a centre meets our standards then they are awarded their accreditation and you can find them on this website. Accreditation happens every three years with extra checks if needed.
Accreditation Summary
Date: 06/09/2021
Summary:
Foundations: Supporting Families is based in Chatham, in the heart of Medway and offers an excellent service to its clients in a safe, welcoming and encouraging environment. It is housed in a large three-storey building, very close to transport links of trains and buses and with several car parks nearby. The centre offers supervised, supported and handover contact, in a well-resourced, comfortable and safe environment.
The building is really welcoming on the inside although from the outside the only visible clue as to its purpose is a large logo on a first-floor window. It is clean, attractively decorated, and the individual contact rooms are extremely comfortable and well equipped. One of them has a separate kitchen so that families may bake should they wish to, and all have a table at which to eat or play games in addition to a comfortable sofa. The contact rooms are on three floors so there are a fair number of stairs, though these are all provided with stair gates. Anyone with mobility problems is allocated a room on the ground floor. Anyone using a wheelchair is offered a place at an alternative venue. Other disabilities are discussed at the pre-visit and appropriate provision made wherever possible.
Two staff are allocated to families so that there is always a familiar face for parents and children and to enable trust and a positive working relation to develop. These staff are also responsible for pre-visits and risk assessments assisted by the coordinator who leads by example ensuring the highest of standards.
The children’s booklet is full of reassurances, and information about what to expect as well as an acknowledgement of how they might be feeling after a separation. Pre-visits are an essential part of the preparation; children can choose the room they would like to use, meet their contact supervisor and ask questions as appropriate. There are age-appropriate feedback forms for them to complete so they can contribute to the reviews which take place after six sessions.
All staff have children as their primary focus, but the managers additionally see that their staff are an extremely valuable resource and invest well in their wellbeing and development to ensure a positive experience for children and their parents. The administration is professional, well organised, thorough and the clarity this brings to the processes contributes to the success of the service which has been transformed into a very special place – more like a home than a centre.
Photos from this centre
